2019 US Open Spotlight: Roger Federer

By Ashley Marshall / Saturday, March 02, 2019

Roger Federer won his 100th career singles title in Dubai on Saturday, joining Jimmy Connors as the only two men in the Open era to reach the 100 plateau.

Not that his Hall of Fame resume needed another entry, but Saturday's triumph is another exclamation mark on a once-in-a-generation career. This latest milestone continues to emphasize his brilliance and longevity in a way that superlatives—of which there are many—rarely can.

Here's more on the 20-time Grand Slam men's singles champion, who continues to write and re-write the history books.

- Federer becomes the second man to reach the 100-career-titles milestone behind only Jimmy Connors, who leads the list with 109. Federer is the fifth player in the Open era to achieve the feat, along with Billie Jean King (167), Chris Evert (157) and Steffi Graf (107).

- The Swiss has 20 more titles than the next most successful active male player, Rafael Nadal, who has 80. Federer is now 27 ahead of Novak Djokovic, who won his 73rd title in Melbourne earlier this year. Of the other players inside the Top 100, nobody else has more than Juan Martin del Potro’s 22 singles titles.

- Federer’s win in Dubai was the eighth time he has lifted the trophy there. It is one of five tournaments he has won at least seven times, along with Basel and Halle (nine each), Wimbledon (eight) and Cincinnati (seven).

- No stranger to milestones and records, Federer has celebrated some of his biggest achievements in New York. He is the only man in the Open era to win the US Open five consecutive times and, by reaching the 2009 US Open final, became the only player to reach all four major finals in the same year three different times. His 40-straight match wins between 2004 and 2009 are also the most of all time, and only Connors was seeded in New York for more consecutive years than Federer, who was seeded each year from 2001-15 before missing the 2016 event with a knee injury.

They Said It

"If I reach milestones like this along the way, it’s wonderful. But I’m really not here to shatter all the records out there," Federer said.